4. What else can you do besides write?One of my novels, The Shimmer, has several scenes about small private planes. As research, I took some flying lessons (I’m the authorial equivalent of a Method-trained actor) and enjoyed the experience so much that I became a private pilot. I love being able to get above everything and clear my head by flying.

5. Who are you reading right now?

6. Pop culture or academia?I’m a rarity, a fiction writer who had formal training as an academic (I was a full professor of American literature at the University of Iowa). I’m reminded of the great jazz pianist Oscar Peterson who had classical training and performed Bach etc. before he devoted himself to jazz. My knowledge of literary history and of how books are put together has been a big help to me.

7. What is the toughest scene you ever wrote?
8. Where do you find your inspirations to write?
9. Food you could eat everyday.

10. Are you into sports or other physical activities?Hemingway compared writing a novel to running a marathon. He was talking about mental attitude, but I think the metaphor has a physical application also. To me, it’s essential to exercise as a way of compensating for long hours at a desk. For many years, I ran five miles a day. Then I switched to tennis. Now I favor a treadmill. Physical conditioning helps an author think better, I believe.

11. What kind of music speaks to you?

12. Do you outline your stories or do they just take you along for the ride?In my writing book The Successful Novelist, I describe an alternative to outlines. Basically it’s a long letter that I write to myself in which I ask why a particular project is worth a year of my life. Then I start probing the book’s general idea, asking questions, looking for the story’s implications. The final document is sometimes 30 single-spaced pages and sets the direction for the book.

13. Celebrity crush.

14. Who are the biggest influences on your work?At Penn State, I wrote my Master’s thesis on Hemingway’s style. While I don’t write like Hemingway, he certainly influenced me as did a British thriller writer, Geoffrey Household, whose Rogue Male (1939) showed me how to describe action in an outdoor setting, sort of like Wordsworth with weapons.

NEWS Man of War

BOOKS I can't tell you what an honor it is to write a sequel to a Science Fiction Grandmaster's novel. Thank you to Meteor House a...

NEWS Starrie in Publishers Weekly

Nice review from Publisher's Weekly for Starrie (From the World of Ambasadora)!
"Miller’s short third novel in the space-faring, caste-bound, hierarchically polyamorous, and socially striated Ambasadora universe (after 2013’s Greenshift) manages to balance the exoticized presentation of the setting with relatable human interaction...the romance between Ben and Naela highlights the emotional side of reaching out to those who are different from you, even in a world where those differences are stylized and codified."

TALKING ABOUT MAN OF WAR

"More than just demonstrating how the best science fiction thrills with action, and explores romance in new and unexpected ways, Heidi Ruby Miller gives us something equally important -- representation, through an exploration of Farmer's classic Iroquois character Two Hawks. Anyone interested in page-turners with diversity should stop what they're doing and read Man of War." -John Edward Lawson, Bram Stoker Award finalist and author of Bibliophobia

TALKING ABOUT THE AMBASADORA SERIES

"AMBASADORA has a lot to say about the human spirit and it says it well." -MIKE RESNICK Nebula and Hugo Award-winning Author of the Santiago series

TALKING ABOUT STARRIE

"Miller’s short third novel in the space-faring, caste-bound, hierarchically polyamorous, and socially striated Ambasadora universe (after 2013’s Greenshift) manages to balance the exoticized presentation of the setting with relatable human interaction...the romance between Ben and Naela highlights the emotional side of reaching out to those who are different from you, even in a world where those differences are stylized and codified." -Publisher's Weekly

TALKING ABOUT MANY GENRES

"...a beautiful and insightful must-have book for any writer, from newbie to working pro. Highly recommended!" -JONATHAN MABERRY NYT Bestselling Author of the Joe Ledger series

TALKING ABOUT STARRIE

"STARRIE is one ripping fast book and a well told story. I loved it!" --Basil Sands, The Big Thrill

TALKING ABOUT HEIDI'S WRITING

"...a writer-crush on Heidi Ruby Miller. I mean, holy crap, this girl can write! This is how you write Science-Fiction." -CARY CAFFREY Bestselling Author of The Girls from Alcyone trilogy

TALKING ABOUT GREENSHIFT

TALKING ABOUT STARRIE

"Take authentic, straight-ahead space opera. Stir in a highly trained, kick-ass assassin on a mission of vengeance. Toss in a career soldier and watch them battle together, and grow together, as adversity piles on. Serve hot! Heidi Ruby Miller’s STARRIE serves up the perfect concoction of nonstop, take-no-prisoners SF action and romance, set against the intriguing backdrop of the brutal and dangerous world of AMBASADORA, and deftly leaves us wanting more." -Win Scott Eckert, coauthor with Philip José Farmer of The Evil in Pemberley House and author of The Scarlet Jaguar, winner of the 2014 New Pulp Award

TALKING ABOUT MARKED BY LIGHT

"Talk about an outlaw hero that is larger than life. Talk about a hero who changes worlds." -JENNA BENNET NYT Bestselling Author of The Fortune series

TALKING ABOUT HEIDI'S STORIES

TALKING ABOUT STARRIE

"With explosive action, kick-ass heroes and romance that hits all the right notes, STARRIE gives fans of science fiction romance everything they want—at a breakneck pace. Plan to stay up all night finishing this one, it’s impossible to put down!" - RHONDA MASON Author of The Empress Game